Thursday 13.03.2008

Halliwells Advises Stobart Group On Series Of Transactions

Law firm Halliwells has advised Stobart Group, a leading provider of multimodal transport and logistics solutions, on the proposed acquisitions of the Irlam Group and WA Developments, an option agreement for the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Carlisle Airport and a placing and open offer of new Ordinary Shares.

Halliwells' team was led by corporate partners Jonathan Brown, Frank Shephard and Craig Scott.


Highlights include:

Proposed acquisition of the entire issued share capital of the Irlam Group, a substantial road transport and logistics business, for a total consideration of £59.9 million (£36.2 million in cash, £10.0 million in shares and £13.7 million in Loan Notes). David Irlam will join the Stobart Group Board.

Proposed acquisition of WA Developments, a transport infrastructure engineering specialist, for a total consideration of £10.0 million in cash.

Option agreement for the acquisition of Carlisle Airport, a company that owns a strategic site on which Stobart proposes to develop a new logistics centre.

Proposed Placing and Open Offer to raise £75.0 million (approximately £70.0 million after expenses) via a placing and open offer of 57,675,188 new Ordinary Shares at 130p per share.

The acquisitions of Irlam and WA Developments are expected to enhance earnings in the first full year following Completion

The proceeds from the Placing and Open Offer will be used to finance, inter alia, the cash and loan note elements of the consideration for the Acquisitions.

Commenting on the transactions, Jonathan Brown said:

"These transactions further establish Stobart as the UK's leading multimodal transport and logistics provider.

"We are building up a very strong relationship with Stobart having previously advised the company on its reverse takeover of Westbury plc, which led to its stock market listing, and had a team of lawyers in Liverpool and Manchester working on this series of deals."

About Halliwells

Halliwells is one of the UK's leading multi-disciplinary law firms with over 1000 people and offices in Manchester, Liverpool, London and Sheffield



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